This started as a joke and quickly developed into a thing. If you know Star Wars, then you know that these adorable little bird like creatures are the new thing. I fell in love with those giant eyes Meet my little porgs, in honor of #porgday , Kaydel Porg Connix and Poerg Dameron. Their movie counterparts are Kaydel Ko Connix and Poe Dameron - both of the resistance.

I am so excited to share this beautiful bag. I had a lot of fun with all the details in it as well. If you've seen the new Star Trek Discovery series, you will recognize the inspiration in a heartbeat.The gold accents on the panels are actually done with a mirror foil HTV on a coordinating blue cotton and are then sewn to the pattern pieces prior to construction. I made the designs using photoshop and my Silhouette Cameo. They are done to mimic the look of the Captain's uniform, complete with the delta side pieces, the rank strips on the "shoulders" and the stitching on the "shoulder side". I had a lot of fun researching the details on this one and trying to incorporate them into the bag.The bag is entirely vinyl with a fun blue and gold outer space looking lining. Sewn entirely on my vintage 1953 Singer 201-2. This one is going to a very dear friend who LOVES Star Trek.

In keeping with my costume inspired bags, I present the Wonder Woman Blanche (bag pattern by Swoon). I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut marine vinyl for the stars the logo appliques. I then carefully top-stitched the appliques to the bag pieces before assembly. This was mostly done by hand turning the machine wheel, so as not to overshoot the corners or curves. Since I was making one of them, I decided to jump in head first and make TWO! Her shoulder strap is made to mimic the look of her boots, with the white stripe down the center. The inside has Wonder Woman printed fabric <3 It was 2 days of work, mostly spent on the careful applique detailing. Once that was done, assembly was easy enough. Since the bag is all vinyl, and this is a drop in lining, I opted to hand stitch in the lining, hiding the stitches in the very inside edge of the zipper tape. Trying to crunch up the bag to fit under my machine to machine stitch it in, was not an option for the marine vinyl. I didn't want to crease it all up or risk scratching up the vinyl in the process.

I had a lot of fun making this one. The design on the front is HTV in a holographic glitter. That was fused to a heavy weight canvas, which was backed in fusible interfacing, and all raw edges sealed. The applique was then sewed to the front (marine vinyl) all around the edges. The bag is about 9" x 3" with a 48" long strap. I used a poly webbing for the strap and sewed a strip of grosgrain ribbon down the center. The colors were all inspired by X-Wing pilot costumes. The inside features everyone's favorite heros from "Rogue One", which is where the phrase "I Rebel" came from. There is also a zippered pocket.The design in the center was one that I made last year and cut out, but couldn't quite find the proper use for. It all of a sudden came to me and now it's a purse

I made this adorable little purse in celebration of National Handbag Day and the new Star Wars trailer that was just released. If you're up to date with the new Star Wars trivia, then you know about these adorable little bird-like creatures, called Porgs. They are the newest thing to sweep the fandom and are winning the hearts of a lot of fans. This little bag uses the same oval shape as my cat head bag, but I designed and appliqued face for it.

The face details were drawn by me and then hand cut and stitched into place. The porg I chose to recreate has a little grey tuft on top of it's head, which continues all the way down it's back. It's face blends into it's belly in a cream color. The top and back of the purse is grey to mimic the top of the head and the back, and the bottom is cream to mimic the belly.

This bag makes me so happy to look at. A while back I had a friend commission a stealth suit handbag, but it was in cotton with the vinyl accents on the front. I had this beautiful navy marine vinyl in my stash, and 30 year old leather from my mom's old couch. The leather has this beautiful patina and age to it, that can only come from being well used and worn over time. It reminded me of a WWII bomber jacket, and I knew it was perfect for another version of that bag. It sold at a show in June to a new friend, and she LOVED that the leather was so old and well aged and recycled from an old couch.

I love details, anything I can incorporate into my art, I do. I top stitched the glitter vinyl to look like the star on Cap's suit and the lines on the sides.

The adjustable cross-body strap is cotton webbing, like what would have been used on the costume. The sides of the Blanche have the pockets omitted to keep it looking clean.

The leather that was used has such a nice look to it. I used it for the bottom of the bag, the handles, and the strap connectors on the side.

It wouldn't be one of my bags, if I didn't hide the special fabric in the zipper pocket Captain America fabric for a little pop inside.

I actually made this back in June, but forgot to post it. It's probably my all time favorite bag I've made, to date. This was my first bag in ALL vinyl. My poor sewing machine was ready to kill me, and it took 2 days to complete with all the tiny details. I took this bag to a show back in June, and it didn't even make it to opening before a fellow vendor saw it and scooped it right up. Luckily, they let it stay in my booth all weekend as a showpiece. I have plans to make another one soon, now that I got a vintage Singer 201-2 and it sews through layers of vinyl like nothing

The logo was Heat Transfer Vinyl cut on my Silhouette Cameo II. It was then heat set to a navy blue cotton, which was backed in a stiff, fusible interfacing. That applique was then stitched to the front panel of the bag, using a straight stitch on my machine and by eye. It is stitched all along the outside, and then in every single blue line inside of the logo, to give a dimensional feel to the finished product.

The side pocket panels were decorative top stitched to mimic the lines on her skirt panels. Gold piping was used as a contrast and to mimic her lasso of truth.

The bag features gold colored hardware and purse feet as well.

The inside coordinates with the outside. The pocket, which I neglected to photograph, features white stars on a blue background, as an homage to the Lynda Carter costume.

I needed an escape from reality and to try and get back into my sewing grove, so I made myself a fun jacket. Now that the weather will be getting cooler, I'll be able to wear this jacket soon. I used fabrics from my stash which include Knitorious Fabrics "Vivid Floral Wars" with the character heads, and the coordinating lightsabers print, black rib knit, black casa crepe back satin, purple cotton sateen, and a wide satin zipper. I have no clue where the purple sateen and the zipper came from, I've had them in my stash forever. I love that the pattern has an included lining as well as pockets. Too many times I've had to draft a lining for jackets because the pattern didn't call for one.

I made these costumes for Dragon Con 2017. I fell in love with Dolores's dress from this TV show and then her character. Since I was making myself the dress, my hubby decided he wanted to be Dr. Robert Ford to go with my Dolores. I used all historically based patterns from Truly Victorian and Laughing Moon. The only thing I made my own pattern for, was the chemise and the bum roll. I did some alterations to the bodice pattern though, to make it look more like the TV show. All the trims were either altered or made by me.It was a fun challenge, as I've only ever done historic patterns once before for my Marie Antoinette. There are SO MANY UNDERLAYERS! You can't just build the skirt and bodice and call it a day. You need the chemise, the corset, the petticoat, and the bum roll all done first! I still want to make knee length bloomers for this as well. Once I got all the underwear constructed, I was able to move onto the skirt and bodice. The skirt and the petticoat are the same exact Truly Victoria pattern (TV261), the corset is TV492, the Bodice is Laughing Moon (LM105). My husband's vest was heavily modified Simplicity pattern... that was missing a whole page of needed pattern pieces from the envelope - so I had to completely draft them myself.Making of Page: https://imageevent.com/benaequee/costumes/completed/movietvartcostumes/doloresabernathy

For the petticoat, I used the skirt pattern, but made the pleated trim at the bottom. There is a shot of Dolores with her petticoat showing, and it is actually a wide eyelet lace with a ribbon lace accent. I didn't have any more room in my budget for the eyelet lace, so I opted for a pleated ruffle instead. I still had ribbon lace for the accent though, and used that.

For the corset, I opted for hand bound eyelet holes, vs the metal eyelets. I did this for my Marie Antoinette stays, and I loved the look and feel of it so much more. They are not difficult to do, and add a nice finishing touch. They are laced with a 15mm silk satin ribbon in a french blue color.

For the skirt, I flat lined the lightweight linen in a light material of some sort... it was in my stash, I have no clue what it was, but I have like 50 yards of it lol. It was slightly sheer and had a sheen, but it was the perfect weight to be used for this. After sewing the pattern pieces together and pressing the seams open, I used pinking shears to finish the edges. My serger is acting up, so I had to go this route. It's worked perfect in the past on other projects, so I figured I'd do it again. The hem was then hand sewn to the white lining layer, and not into the fashion fabric.

Trimmings! My favorite part! I made these, since I could not find ready that I liked. Her bodice has this white polka dot, baby blue, pleated trim. I could not pre made ribbon that I liked. Everything was giant dots or organza. I ended up buying a cotton dotted print fabric and making a continuous bias loop trim and pleating it myself. I opted for a bias so that I would not need to worry about the edges fraying over time. It makes the dots line up straight instead of staggered, but I was okay with that in the long run. I just pleated it by hand as it was fed through my machine.

The bodice also has a velvet trim, and a guimp braid with light blue and pale gold accents on it. I had to make this, using a 3/8" guimp braid, and guimp cord. It was kind of a pain in the butt, and I may eventually re-do it... maybe. First I sewed on the blue cord, and then the yellow cord. The tricky part was sewing the velvet ribbon, the guimp, and the pleated trim all on a curved edge. I had to run a gather stitch in the very edge of the velvet ribbon and ease it in. It was then pressed and the pleat was sewn to it. The guimp was then sewn over the joining edge of the ribbon and the pleated trim. This was then repeated for the sleeve edges.

The bodice needed to be mocked up first, since the shape of the bodice neckline needed to be deepened, and the sleeves lengthened and a closure added to them. I used my lining material for this and it worked perfectly.

I then got to cut into my good fabric. I took apart my mock up, pressed it, and used it as the pattern for the linen. I hate sewing button holes, as my machine sometimes starts to eat my projects randomly. There was NO WAY I was letting it near this bodice, I'd already spent 3 days on it at this point. I cheated and made the bodice close with hidden hook and eyes, and the buttons were simply sewn on top as a decorative element

For the belt and pouch, I commissioned a leatherworking friend to make them for me. I just didn't have the time or tools to do this myself, and didn't want to invest in them just for one project. He did an OUTSTANDING job on them! He found the screen accurate patterned leather belt blank from Tandy Leather, and then completely wet formed the pouch for me. It was totally worth it, and I love it to death. I got a ton of compliments on it too I got the buckle off Etsy from a vintage belt from the 60's. It's close enough and has the right petina to it.

ROBERT FORDRobert Ford is the creator of Westworld and it's "Hosts", such as Dolores. My husband wanted to dress as him. We initially tried to find a waistcoat that was already made, in order to save me 2 days of work on top of my already hectic schedule. We found nothing remotely close to it, and neither of us was happy with a simple tuxedo vest. He wanted it to look like his on the show, which has a weird built in cummerbund and a small welted pocket at the top, as well as rounded notched collar. I usually avoid menswear, but for my hubby, why not? The only caveat was, that he had to go fabric shopping and pick up everything for me. He did an amazing job. He found a waffle weave seersucker, that I fused a black interfacing to, and lined in Kona cotton. The back is Casa crepe back satin from Joann, as he couldn't locate a black duchess satin in the store. The crepe back stuff was slippery, and a bit of a paint to work with. We bought the Simplicity pattern 2895, which is an old west style costume pattern for men. I looked at the instructions first and read them over, and plotted out how to adjust the pattern to the way I needed it. This is how I always work on patterns. I then got the 3 sheets of pattern tissue out and started cutting out pieces I needed, which were not many, since it's just a waistcoat. I had only 2 pieces cut before I realized a whole page was missing, and they had duplicated another instead It was Sunday night, I was in a panic, I had to have this completed in two days. I had no time to get a new pattern envelope (and hope it had all the pieces), so I tweeted at Simplicity directly to see if they had a PDF of it available to email me. They reached out Monday, but did not have something for me. I had to use the pattern diagram as a basis for what the missing pieces should look like and had to do quite a bit of math to scale it up. I luckily had my hubby's tuxedo vest on hand as a basis for what I needed as well. It worked out in the end thankfully, but it added 3 more hours of work that I didn't account for in my schedule. I also had to draft a curved, notched collar for this, since that is what the TV show vest had. You tube tutorials to the rescue!The buttons on this are self covered, and I had to bite the bullet and use my machine for button holes. It cooperated, mostly, only eating my completed vest twice (panic attacks ensued each time). My husband loves it, and said it was so well finished, he may actually wear it under his tux, somewhere fancy.I am so proud of this welted pocket and my perfect collar